REDress Project comes to Orillia Campus Feb. 11

Jan. 29, 2016

The REDress Project, the renowned art installation that raises awareness and sparks action into the issue of 1,200 missing and murdered Aboriginal women, comes to the Orillia Campus of Georgian College on Thursday, Feb. 11 along with its creator, Winnipeg artist Jaimie Black.

Through the public display of hundreds of empty red dresses, The REDress Project creates “encounters” with the disappeared by marking their absence, allowing viewers to emotionally connect to this staggering loss. Black’s visit and her art installation are sponsored by Georgian and its Indigenous Resource Centre.

Conceived by Black in 2010, the project has since travelled across Canada and internationally and is currently on display at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. The REDress Project is a compelling starting point for opening discussions around race, class and gender violence in local communities and beyond. Black hopes her art will help Canadians understand these women as women – people who are loved and valued and missed – and not just as statistics.

On Tuesday, Feb. 9 and Wednesday, Feb. 10, Georgian College Orillia Campus students will have the opportunity to work with Black to install dresses throughout the campus. The installation will be open to students and the public beginning Thursday, Feb. 11 and will remain on display for two weeks.

• Opening talk and exhibition tour with the artist (open to Georgian staff and students only):
  Orillia Campus Theatre, Feb. 11, from 1 to 4 p.m.

 

• Coffee house (open to the public)
  Orillia Campus cafeteria, Feb. 11, from 7 to 9 p.m.

Read more about REDress.